


5 minutes

by brucewaynery



Series: iron man bingo fills [8]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Iron Man Bingo 2019, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, tony gives it to him :')
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 04:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brucewaynery/pseuds/brucewaynery
Summary: Rogers' small smile is like a 0.2V bulb, but even that can seem like a quasar* in a dark basement.OR, How Tony gives a national hero a home, and becomes happy himself along the way*Quasar - brightest (known) objects in the universe(for 'steve rogers' on iron man bingo





	1. 5 minutes

At first, Tony didn’t know what to think of Steve Rogers. Actually, that’s a bald-faced lie. He knew exactly what to think of him; arrogant, pigheaded, stubborn, and of course, nothing like the stories. At all. But apparently, he’s been under the influence of Loki’s sceptre (yeah, that guy from Norse mythology who fucked a horse (Tony’d went on a week-long wiki-venture in the middle of writing his thesis. It’d been a tough time.)), so it didn’t count, he’d apologised after.

They did say ‘never meet your heroes’ after all. 

When he was younger, he was so sure that if he ever got to meet Captain America he’d hug him, thank him for his service. When he grew up, he promised himself that if they ever found him, he would deck his probably-perfect teeth. Adult-Tony does neither.

Adult-Tony keeps his distance. He so badly wants to punch him, because of everything his father said, but he feels as though he should wait until he has actual, reasonable grounds to punch him, things  _ he’s _ done, not what his father did. The fact that his face would most likely break his hand also factors into his decision of simply shaking his hand when they part ways.

They’ve had a couple of small, quiet moments, mostly amidst battle, that make Tony think that maybe he’s not an asshole, and maybe he could get to know him, but at the end of the day, Tony really doesn’t know what to think of him, he’s good in the field, he’s a good leader, but outside of that, he doesn’t really know him. At all. 

Thanks to dear old Nick, that changes, fast.

Well, about half a year after New York, maybe a month after his whole Mandarin/Killian. He spends the time ‘bettering himself’ and getting on and out and back in and then permanently out of a relationship with Pepper. On one hand, he hasn’t been all too productive (making, then destroying dozens of suits cancels each other out, really), on the other, it makes him a prime target for Fury to shoot at.

“You told me the Initiative was scrapped,” Tony says. He can’t believe he actually went to SHIELD for this. He, by choice (like, 21% choice) went into SHIELD HQ, to talk to their resident pirate. About letting five strangers move into his tower. 

“You  _ assumed _ the Initiative was scrapped, assumptions just make an ass of you and me, Stark, you know that,” Fury says, evenly, “you have the space and the funds. Stark, you know that something like Loki is going to happen again, the best way to prepare for that is like this, all of you under one roof, learning to become a team.”

“Your little boyband saved New York, once, by the skin of our teeth, and now you want us to protect the word.”

“ _ Your _ boyband, and you lot aren’t the only people in my phonebook. Look, all I want is for you to become a team, for the future,” Fury pushes a manila folder to Tony across the desk.

** _The Avenger’s Initiative_ **

“Fine. You owe me,” Tony concedes, leaving the room. He doesn’t take the file.

Within a week, he has two more assassins under his roof, with the next he has another scientist (a  _ biologist _ ). It’s awkward, for a bit, everyone staying in their own corners, so to speak, until Agent Bart-- Hawke--  _ Clint _ proposes weekly movie nights (Tony just thinks that he wants an excuse to watch movies (they’re going to be very good friends)) and much of the awkwardness dissipates.

It’s fascinating really, they know each other so well on the field, they work seamlessly together, but put in a social,  _ normal, _ situation, and now no one knows where to sit, but the movie night thing helps and everything just clicks. Tony thinks he has friends now.

Except there’s something, someone, missing.

He doesn’t even know why he wants him here so much, it’s not like they got super close or anything,the four of them click, and based on what Clint says, Thor would slip right in and he’d barely be here anyway (which is a shame, because Tony really wants to get his hands on that hammer), but none of them know their captain at all and Tony can’t help but look at the four of them and think there’s something missing.

“The god and the legend too good for us?” Tony asks Natasha one morning. She’s the most open and vulnerable she’s been ever since she started living here, maybe a month ago; she has messy hair and she’s wearing a hoodie at least two sizes too big. It might be Clint’s. Tony’s not going to think about it too much. (And if he wasn’t in fear of attack-via-butter-knife, he would call her cute.) Anyway, he’s asking her because she’s the one reporting to Fury at the end of every week, and out of her and Clint, she’s more likely to tell him something (Currently, Clint’s giving him the silent treatment for putting purple dye in his shampoo (he drew over Dum-E with glitter glue (He’ll never admit it but Dum-E likes it))).

She gives him a look he doesn’t really want to decode. “Thor’s dealing with his own stuff, off-world, and Rogers is still at SHIELD.”

Tony gives her a disbelieving look, surely the team captain should be with them, and not in a cinderblock room eating crappy food (Tony’s been to SHIELD HQ exactly once in his life and never in the residential areas or the cafeteria (In his defence, he’s not too far off)). 

Looks like he’s going to be getting another stamp on his SHIELD loyalty card.

It doesn’t take much to find out where Rogers is, a little hacking tells him his apartment details and a little more gives his security camera access. Rogers is pitifully predictable, Tony watches what he did in the past week, cutting between days and decides he needs saving. 

All he does is go to ‘class’ (some guy explaining something, probably everything that happened in the past 70 years, while he takes notes. Captain America takes handwritten notes. (He should mention that he has godawful handwriting (Maybe Tony enhanced the image out of curiosity, but only JARVIS knows that and he’s well aware of the national ‘no snitching’ policy), he should also mention that he’s a doodler. Tony’s far happier than maybe he should be to find that he has a flaw -  _ not so perfect now, huh Dad? _ )) and the gym (maybe he’s untouchable but  _ damn _ Tony really wants to touch those muscles) and that’s it. He also leaves for hours at a time, only at night, and Tony could probably find where he goes, but SHIELD most definitely already does, and he thinks the guy deserves a little privacy from him (He leaves when the sun sets and comes back when it rises and looks the exact same. Not particularly suspicious until you realise that it means that he doesn’t sleep. Not Tony’s problem - he probably has therapists anyway.). He’s going through the motions, head down, quiet, Tony doesn’t think that he’s seen him smile the entire week.

JARVIS tells him that the sun sets in just under 20 minutes. He takes the suit.

“Going anywhere?”

“What the-- Mr. Stark?”

Tony’s always enjoyed the dramatics. He steps out of the shadows, still in the suit but with the helmet off, to face Rogers, legs straddling motorbike.

“Eh, call me Tony,” he says, casually leaning against a concrete pillar. God, the SHIELD garage is depressing. SHIELD is depressing.

Rogers still looks confused. And ready to book it straight out. “Anything I can do for you?” 

“Come live with me.” Tony’s been told that statements usually make people do what he wants, instead of questions, and this statement is to a living legend,  _ the  _ Great American Hero. Telling him to live with him.

Rogers looks even more confused, “I already have a place?” He says, like even he’s not too sure.

“Fury didn’t tell you? Everyone has to live in Stark, well, Avenger’s now, Tower. For team bonding or something. In all honesty, I think he just wanted to get Legolas off his back, so to speak.” When in doubt, talk.

“Legolas?” Rogers still looks confused, but under it, there’s excitement, or proudness, or something, like he’s trying to tamp it down.

“Yeah, archer from Lord of the Rings, sequel--”

“To The Hobbit!” 

Tony expected many things from him, straight up refusal was one of them, but not excitement at the Hobbit. If he couldn’t easily throw Tony a city block, he might have called him cute. (Whatever, he’s goddamn adorable, okay?)

“Yeah, kid,” he says, voice softening of it’s own volition. He clears his throat before he says anything more.

Rogers smiles at him, small and shy, and fiddles with something on his bike. “Were you, were you serious?” He looks at Tony likes he’s expecting him to pull the rug, yell ‘Sike!’ and fly away cackling.

“Yeah, you were meant to be there since the beginning,” Tony wishes that he has that file, from so many weeks ago, just to prove to him, ‘Look, you’re meant to be with us’.  _ Fuck _ , a couple months ago he was ready and willing to punch this guy in the face and now he wants to wrap him in a million blankets and make him marathon the extended versions of the Tolkien-verse movies until he’s happy.

He’s going to be having words with Fury.

“Oh,” he says, like he never really considered that, “when can I move in?”

“Now’s always good,” Tony replies, challenging him with a raised eyebrow - ‘now’ means breaking out of SHIELD, ‘now’ means no more lectures from SHIELD personnel.

Rogers brightens up, it’s not much, but a 0.2V lamp in a basement seems like a quasar. (And if it makes Tony himself happy, to see him like this, well, no one has to know.)

“Let me get my stuff,” he swings off the bike and that should not be as attractive as it is. Bikers never really interested Tony, but there’s something about this one in front of him.

Tony comes with him, still in the suit, because he has to see his cinderblock in real life - hopefully the camera made it worse?

The camera did not make it worse. It takes him under five minutes to pack, and everything can fit in a standard backpack.

By the time they get back to the garage, Tony learns a couple things: 1. He knows what the internet is, and enjoys it, 2. The lessons are going incredibly slowly and he watched some Youtube videos and went on Wikipedia and already knows everything they’re telling him (they’re at the 70s and they skipped the formation of Queen), and finally, Steve Rogers, not Captain America, because in that short five minute walk he’s learnt so much about the man behind the mask he’s determined to never let him be forced behind it again, Steve Rogers is a nerd, a geek and a little shit.

And lonely. So fucking lonely. They pass so many people, walk straight through the canteen, twice, and while, yes, they get some double-takes (mostly baby agents (they’ll grow out of it)), no one says hi, or waves, or greets them or anything, even the guy who Tony recognises as Steve’s ‘teacher’ doesn’t say anything when they pass by in front of him. 

He’s entirely untouchable, a living legend, Tony gets that, hell, even though that ten minutes ago, but under all that, under the fanfare and the applause and the costume, he’s a person, curious, bright, intelligent, funny,  _ flawed _ . He wishes more people knew that.

“So, how fast can that new-fangled suit of yours go, Mr. Stark?” Steve asks putting on an ‘old Brooklyn’ accent and tilting his head and scanning it up and down as he straddles the bike again, bag on his shoulders.

“Fast enough,” Tony replies narrowing his eyes.

He grins. Bright and unabashed and it’s wonderful, but Tony only gets to see a second of it because he’s whipping out of the garage, yelling “Race you,” over his shoulder.

Tony’s laughing as he engages the suit, snapping up the helmet and following hot on his heels.

(They tie (4. Steve Rogers drives like a madman), shaking on a rematch.)

((It’s the happiest Steve’s been in the new century, in his life.))


	2. coda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lil coda :')

It takes them a while. It takes them so fucking long even the new baby (practically foetus) agents are done with their shit. 

It takes years of longing looks and brushed hands and secret smiles and quiet nights and flirty one liners and compliments, but eventually, eventually, Tony admits to the torrent of butterflies that inhabit his insides whenever he even looks at Steve and he kisses him, grinning so goddamn bright Tony’s positive his heart is going to burst.

“You gave me a home,” Steve admits quietly to him. Tony can’t see his face like this, in his arms, but he can kiss the side of his neck, hopefully communicating more than he ever could with words. Steve gets it. 

“You make me happy,” Tony says, simply, into his skin, holding tighter.

(They tie the knot three years after that (the baby-- toddler agents yell Mrs. Rogers to Tony and Mr. Stark to Steve for a month straight (Tony doesn’t think too hard about the implications)))

((It’s the happiest Tony’s been in his life.))

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, please leave a comment/kudo or [reblog this post](https://ineffablestarkrogers.tumblr.com/post/186868879641/5-minutes) if you liked it <33


End file.
